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Friday, 7 November 2014

Ex-US diplomat under criminal investigation.....

WASHINGTON: The state department says a former long-time US diplomat and expert on Pakistan is the subject of a federal investigation and had her security clearance revoked last month.

The department said Thursday it is cooperating with a law enforcement probe into Robin Raphel, a one-time ambassador to Tunisia and most recently a senior adviser on civilian aid to Pakistan.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Raphel's employment with the department technically ended Nov. 2, but that her clearance was pulled in October. Raphel retired from the foreign service in 2005 but was hired as a contractor in 2009 to oversee development aid and civilian assistance to Pakistan.

The nature of the investigation was not immediately clear, but The Washington Post, which first reported the probe, said it was related to counterterrorism.